The Director of Byzantine Studies reports to the Director of Dumbarton Oaks and oversees the Byzantine Study Program at Dumbarton Oaks. The Director of Studies supports the Byzantine Fellows (who are resident for the academic year, a term, or the summer and pursue their own research) and organizes scholarly meetings such as symposia, colloquia, and lectures.

The individual holding the position has overall responsibility for administering the study program, including: coordinating the three annual meetings with the Board of Senior Fellows that advises the Director on fellowship selection and programmatic activities; supervising the Program Coordinator; ensuring the smooth running of activities in Byzantine Studies (such as research reports by Fellows, one-month research awards, the summer school, summer internships, one-month Visiting Scholars, etc.); and managing budget development, forecasting, and tracking of expenses (including project grants to archaeologists).

Within Dumbarton Oaks, the Director of Byzantine Studies provides input as requested on Byzantine holdings within the library (including Byzantine portions of the image and fieldwork archives); is expected to produce reports, such as the Byzantine portion of the annual report; and participates with other directors of scholarly departments in conducting basic research necessary to evaluate the success of programs.

In the broader scholarly world, the Director of Byzantine Studies promotes the vitality of the field. Outreach activities include regular communication with relevant Byzantine societies, listservs, and academic programs in the United States, Europe, and beyond. The Director of Byzantine Studies also fosters exchanges with closely connected fields such as medieval and Islamic studies.

The Director of Byzantine Studies acts as editor of the Byzantine journal, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, in conjunction with a small editorial board. He or she receives or solicits submissions, sends them out for peer review, relays comments to contributors, and ensures that accepted essays have been revised in accordance with reviewer comments and house style. The Director also serves as the acquiring editor for Byzantine books. This role requires assisting symposium organizers in their capacities as volume editors for proposed symposia volumes, monitoring submissions for other Byzantine series, creating proposals for review, and acting as developmental editor for all such submissions.